I Don’t Know How to Love You: The Relationship Between Humans and Nature

What is the relationship between the natural world and civilization? Is it a battle between human creation and the natural world, an intense struggle to dominate the land? Or a soft, sad lullaby, pushing and pulling slowly like the tide between the two forces? This relationship is varied and nuanced from societal to personal disruptions. Nature responds, reclaiming its space after the impact of human life.

The artists in I Don’t Know How to Love You: The Relationship Between Humans and Nature challenge the construction of narratives around this relationship. Sayler/Morris, a Syracuse-based collective, uses mixed media to document changing notions with nature, culture, and ecology. Yellow Springs artist Migiwa Orimo uses both photography and sculpture to organize information on the conflict of society and nature’s coexistence. NYC-based photographer Dana Stirling explores struggles with mental health using nature as a mirror of personal emotions.

The FotoFocus Biennial is an opportunity for the Art Academy of Cincinnati to allow students hands-on learning of the curation process. Through the generosity of a FotoFocus grant, a course, “Curating the Record”, was developed to encourage students to explore exhibition creative ideation, logistics, and professional development. 

Student Curators: Eliyah Bowles, Katelyn Boysel, Kierstin Coldiron, Annie Crowl, Erica Fitzgerald, Ian Hayes, Echo Joy, Kaitlyn Lunsford, Danielle Martini, Isabelle Rather, Jin Sponseller, Ellie Wallace

Course Faculty: Associate Professor Emily Hanako Momohara, Head of Photography